Rousseau's Third Walk

I sometimes dip into Rousseau's Reveries of the Solitary Walker. It's an embittered rant - much of it - written at a time when he felt rejected, angry, resentful, and pretty much at the end of his rope.

That's why I like it. You can find some pithy truths in amongst the ranting. When you're in a desperate state of mind it's hard to lie to yourself any more.

What leaps out at me more than anything is his whacking great ego - but I'm prepared to set that aside. Ego's not as straightforward as some like to make out., anyway, and not much would be achieved without it.

I'm going to quote a bit that really appeals to me and you can make of it what you will.

'I have met many men who were more learned in their philosophising, but their philosophy remained as it were external to them. Wishing to know more than other people, they studied the workings of the universe, as they might have studied some machine they had come across, out of sheer curiosity. They studied human nature in order to speak knowledgeably about it, not in order to know themselves; their efforts were directed to the instruction of others and not to their own inner enlightenment. Several of them merely wanted to write a book, any book so long as it was successful. Once it was written and published, its contents no longer interested them in the least..........I have always thought that before instructing others one should begin by knowing enough for one's own needs..........'

Only problem is, how do you know when you know enough? can you ever know enough?


And...

'We enter the race when we are born and we leave it when we die. Why learn to drive your chariot better when you are close to the finishing post?'

'No doubt adversity is a great teacher, but its lessons are dearly bought, and often the profit we gain from them is not worth the price it cost us. What is more, these lessons come so late in the day, that by the time we master them they are of no use to us.'

Reveries of the Solitary Walker - a cheery read to take on your hols.

Well if you're going to Carnoustie....

My Five on a Friday

Here's the link to Starry Blue Sky blog where I'm this week's Five on a Friday person.

Thanks Rhiannon. Lovely blog.

Gaelic psalms at Back Free Church, Isle Of Lewis- 20/21/oct/2003

Dick Gaughan - Tom Paine's Bones

Dick Gaughan - Tom Paine's Bones

The Rolling Stones - Jig-Saw Puzzle

Exile on Main Street/thoughts on the Rolling Stones

I've been listening to Exile on Main Street this afternoon. I used to love late sixties/early seventies Rolling Stones, but I went off them a bit once I got into Gram Parsons a couple of years back. It's well-known that Gram was very much involved with them, especially Keith, and there were some dark tales of drug use and so forth which were pretty depressing and distasteful. But I can't deny that they put out some terrific music at the time. Exile on Main Street, in my opinion, was the last great Stones album.

Reader kweschunnare no. seven

Here we have reader kweschunnare number seven - this one's from my good friend Axle (real name Aloysius St. John von ...well you know the rest). Because he's one of my closest friends I've allowed him the liberty of getting the kweschuns in the rong order, AND "going on at extreme length". Also, he was good enough to provide a number of his own good photographs of St Kilda which I've blogged a couple of times (click on "St Kilda link" under this post), and, I forgot his birthday this week.......deep shame. Axle also knows more about Coronation Street than anyone I've ever encountered. "Insanely comprehensive knowledge" and "obsessive fan" spring to mind. Pat Phoenix is his all-time favourite, I think.

Anyways, heeeeeeere we go again. As usual, all comments in italics are my own.

1. Fave time of day? No specific time but any day that ends in "off" or starts with "holi"! but I do love watching a beautiful sunset or rise.

2. Fave smell? Definitely NOT Pseudomonas Pyogenes! (yeah - I didn't ask what WASN'T - oh never mind!!) Hope I've remembered the term correctly!! when I was a student nurse (oh my god...) an old woman had a large gangrenous bedsore which was basically a hole, which had become infected by the aforementioned. The smell is something I'll never forget! absolutely horrendous! (thanks for sharing Axle) Smells that I really like are tobacco and pipes, coffee (even though I have never smoked and rarely drink coffee), bread in the oven, autumn bonfires, and not sure if I love the smell but "have to" smell the pages of new magazines and books (not every single one of them!!!) The smell of Shield soap and another one with an appley fragrance - can't remember what it was called or if they are still manufactured remind me of when I stayed in a nurses' home in the summer of 1980.

3. Fave film and or film star. I don't actually watch a lot of films but pretty much enjoy anything with Bette Davis or Katharine Hepburn in. Others are Schindler's List, Sound of Music, Shawshank Redemption, Shirley Valentine and The Deerhunter. Also love the British kitchen sink dramas of the 1960s, such as the likes of A Taste of Honey, Saturday Night Sunday Morning, A Kind of Loving, Spring and Port Wine etc.. Very much like films about historical events, especially within last 150 years. Having said that, I'm not a fan of most WW2 films or Westerns.

4. Fave footwear IN LESS THAN TEN WORDS. Not sure about this one; I mostly wear trainers and have a pair of walking boots (16 words so far...) that I really like. When I was about thirteen, I had a pair of platform boots that I thought were "great" - black "wetlook" with purple "platforms - it was the seventies and purple and plum seemed to be very much "in"! Totally forgot this was supposed to be under ten words!! (....................)

5. Fave music? I have a very wide taste in music - it depends on the mood. Not a huge modern jazz, heavy metal or reggae fan, although I like a lot of the classics of these styles. Some acts/singers I really like: Abba, Annie Lennox, Aretha Franklin, Adele, Alicia Keys, Andy Williams, Anita Baker, Antony and the Johnsons - so anything beginning with "A" then!! Will that include AEM (sorry - REM??!!!) I like a lot of songs purely for nostalgic reasons even if not particularly great songs, or they might just be good to dance to (very fond of disco) and I have to add that I'm PROUD to admit no DECLARE my love for Eurovision!!

6. Fave food? Some (Kate!!) might expect this to be fishfingers as this is the highest extent of my culinary skills, but I do love a good meal even if it sadly has to be cooked by someone else. On the menu at my work I think my favourite is Chicken Chasseur. I love a roast dinner and puddings such as rice, semolina, tapioca and custard (I never knew this??? I feel a bit sick...) Really like fish or chicken and chips. Also really like parsnips and Pink Lady Apples.

7. Fave book/writer I don't read much fiction or have a favourite author but I enjoy biographies and books on social history. As a child I loved Enid Blyton, especially one called Shadow the Sheepdog.

8. Have all of the above ever converged? Doubt it but probably a lovely thought till the briefest waft of Psuedomonas ruins everything!

9. What kweschun would you like to ask yourself? Why have I forgone Question Time to do this, and why do I keep in such close and regular contact with Kate?

10. Bowels in, or bowels out? Not partial to a prolapse thank you very much! though "contents" always "out"!!

Phew!! thanks Axle - very enlightening. I knew most of that lot, but not all. Thanks very much for doing it - and for being a really great friend over thirty years - and so sorry for forgetting your birthday. I must be losing the plot. My own answers will appear over the weekend sometime.